SQUIRREL 35 



Their mouth is remarkable for a peculiarity found in no other mammal — the 

 hairy skin extending into it, behind the upper incisors, so as to cover its inner 

 side, and thereby dividing it into two chambers, which communicate by a small 

 aperture. The first chamber encloses the incisors, and the second the molars ; and 

 by this arrangement the splinters of wood and other objects of too large a size 

 are prevented from entering the mouth - chamber. Most rodents have dark, 

 uniformly coloured coats, although many are more vividly coloured. In some, 

 for instance, the body is spotted or striped, but in none is the tail marked with 

 lighter and darker rings. 



Of all mammalian orders the rodents are the most numerous in species, and 

 the rapidity of increase of the majority is very remarkable. The group is 

 absent only from the coldest polar countries ; while, with the exception of bats 

 and the native dog, rodents are the only mammals in Australia besides marsupials 

 and the egg-laying species. A very large number of rodents are indigenous to 

 South America, where the largest representatives of the group are found. All 

 are purely vegetable-eaters, and masticate their food to a great extent by gnawing 

 it with their incisors. Timid creatures, they take to flight whenever danger 

 threatens, and attack their enemy only in cases of the utmost need ; when they do 

 so, they fight with desperate courage, often inflicting serious wounds with their 

 powerful incisors. Many yield useful, though not as a rule valuable, furs ; but of 

 a few the pelts are very costly. 



In considering the European representatives of the group, we may commence 

 with the common squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), which is the sole representative 

 of its genus in western and central Europe, where it lives only in trees. The 

 numerous other species of the group are, however, widely spread ; they are all 

 distinguished by their long, bushy tails, long and sharp claws, and, generally, 

 rather large ears, which in some cases may have tufts of long hair at the tips. 

 The European squirrel is, as a rule, of a uniform brownish red, but many of the 

 species from hot countries are of much brighter colours, some being orange-yellow, 

 and others, like the little Indian palm-squirrel, being marked with longitudinal 

 light stripes on a dark ground, while certain North American species show a 

 different colouring for different seasons. Squirrels vary much in size, and are 

 found in all the temperate and tropical countries, except Madagascar and Australia. 

 They are represented by a very large number of species, many of which are 

 indigenous to the Malay Archipelago. 



The continental form of the European squirrel in summer is brownish red 

 above, mixed with grey on the head and sides, and white below from the chin 

 downwards ; but in winter the hair of the upper-parts of the body becomes mixed 

 with grey, and sometimes the whole coat is whitish grey or black, and less 

 frequently white or piebald. The species inhabits the forests of Europe and 

 northern Asia, from the shores of the Atlantic in the west to north-eastern 

 Siberia and eastern Asia ; and from the Mediterranean, the Caucasus and the 

 Altai in the south to Lapland in the north. The British squirrel forms a very 

 distinct local race of the species distinguished by the colour of the tail. Black 

 squirrels are frequent in mountain districts — for instance, in the Alps, in the 

 Silesian and Hartz Mountains, and there is a blackish race in Greece, 



